Mariah the Scientist Dares You to Eat Her Alive

MARIAH wears FULL LOOK by DOLCE & GABBANA

Mariah the Scientist’s journey into the music business was atypical; when her first songs went viral, she was a junior pre-med student studying Biology at Saint John’s University in New York City on a scholarship. Just a year or two into her rise, the pandemic disrupted the industry, making the kind of artist development traditionally done through a progression of live performances impossible. When live concerts returned, the learning curve was steep — but Mariah has never been afraid to roll her sleeves up and get to work. Now 25, with some more stage and studio experience and life experience alike, she’s ready to share her best work with her fans. 

A week or two before her album release, office spoke with Mariah the Scientist about her motivation, opening up to collaboration, and going “full force.” 

Hi Mariah!

Hello!

Thank you for taking the time. First things first — I want to ask about your name, the Scientist. I know you studied to become a pediatric anesthesiologist in school before deciding to drop out to pursue music. I was wondering, what connection do you see between science and music, having done both? 

I think that in my beat selection, or my lyricism, there would be more of a testament on how I see the world scientifically or why I gravitate to those sounds specifically. But I think having gone to school for something, the one thing that probably correlates the most is just the work ethic — maintaining a similar work ethic for both career paths.

I'm still in school right now myself, so I feel you. I know the infamous story about how your first songs were recorded to be a gift for someone for Valentine's Day on an iPod. I was wondering, what was your relationship to music before that? Did you ever think that you might want to become a singer?

I always liked music but I didn't think that it would be something that I could choose as a career path. It was more like a passive thought for me, and then once I got into it a little more I found I really liked the expressive aspect of it. Once that was a pertinent objective, to express myself, I felt like I could utilize it for the greater good. And so that's what I've done with it.

MARIAH wears JACKET by LUU DAN

What artists influenced you growing up or influence you now?

At this very moment,  I think about Michael Jackson a lot. I think about Prince. I think about Whitney Houston. They were just so cool. From the overall performance aspect to the hardcore superstar value in them. They had an agenda and they were very intentional with everything they were doing.

I love that. You write almost all of your own songs, and writing requires a different skillset from science. Did you consider yourself a writer before you were a songwriter?

I guess I’ve always had a way with words. Before I was writing songs, I was writing poems or just random excerpts from my day or how I was feeling. When I was in college, I thought I was gonna write a book of self-reflections and life lessons. Didn't finish it though. I wish I could find that computer and just open it up and see what actually was said. I would like to see what I was thinking back then. 

You’ve spoken pretty candidly about how your earliest public performances ever were on these huge stages, and people judged you without realizing you just didn’t have the experience yet. You’ve grown a lot since then — did it help that you wanted to prove people wrong, or was it completely internal? 

It’s never really been a validation-seeking thing. It’s more for the people that come to see me. I want them to enjoy it, you know, I don't want it to be like, I just got up there and half assed a performance for them. I want them to experience it in the best possible way. So I think that has been the big factor in me trying to do better at something that I'm actually sharing with people. Honestly, doing it poorly is not enjoyable for me either. You know, it's uncomfortable.

It was like that in the beginning because I had a lack of experience, I was more insecure about performing which then it made me nervous about it. Now I'm a little more comfortable with it. I definitely think my shows are way better now. And they're more enjoyable, I'm having more fun.

Is there anyone that you look up to as far as performance or anything in specific that you did to help yourself grow and develop as a performer?

I think it just came with doing more shows. The other day I mentioned that Rolling Loud was my second show ever. My first show was a concert that I put on in Atlanta and it was sold out with around 1000 people or something. So I was just brand new to it.

It was a lack of experience that was nerve wracking. This isn’t like a regular job where you get the job and then you sit at a desk and no one knows if you're doing it wrong because you have the opportunity to correct yourself before your peers see it. When you make music, when you release music, when you perform music, it's already on display in whatever form you have released it in. 

How does this album roll out feel compared to the others that you've done? 

I definitely think I feel more prepared because in between my last two projects and this project I was independent, and I did release some music on my own. If you do anything on your own when you're independent, you're a little more equipped with particular knowledge that you would never know if somebody was handling everything for you, like when you are with a label. By the time I got a new label, it gave me more clarity on what exactly I wanted my roll out to look like, and what exactly I wanted out of it. It's also really collaborative, it's more like a partnership.

Absolutely. You've mentioned in the past that songwriting and recording is usually a very private practice for you. You just mentioned collaboration with this new label - are you more open to collaboration within your process of making songs now or are you still very private?

Yes, I have been collaborating more. And I like it, I do. I think that it is interesting to see what other people come up with, it's interesting to see what I come up with. I think when you are in the midst of collaborating, there's a balance of inspiration, it's like feeding off of each other. So, like when you think about duos, like, I don't know, like Future and Thug or like 21 Savage and Metro Boomin. Those are collaborative efforts where each of those people inspire the other person, you know? 

Last year, I remember you told Billboard that you felt like your only option now was to go full force. So I wanted to ask, do you feel like you're at full force right now?

I think that I have been preparing to go full force. I have been on tour for like the last two years, two years almost. And so I've had lots of experience with more shows. I have put my album together, I've scrapped it, I've put it back together, I’ve been to the studio really often. It's like flexing a muscle, just seeing what you can do and just trusting in that intent.

And I definitely feel like I'm prepared to reveal my improvement. Not that I've been hiding it — it's just that I think that with my project will come new exposure and I think, and I'm hoping that that new exposure gives me a chance to share my improvement.

MARIAH wears TOP by DION LEE

My last question is about the title of the album, TO BE EATEN ALIVE. Where did that title come from? And do you feel like people have been trying to eat you?

I’m a Scorpio. Because scorpions are relatively meek animals or quieter animals — they don't really make noise,they're not super large, or some super standout color — you wouldn't know what they were capable of until you got close to them, and saw how intricately detailed they were or just how controlled and intentional they can be. They are predators, not prey. And I do think some people have regarded me as prey. They have regarded me as less. Some people, not everyone. Some people are catching on to it. Other people are not, other people may never catch on to it. But maybe those are people that just don't come in contact with me.

A lot of people feel they can chew you up and spit you out, but if you chew a scorpion up, you know, you fucked up. That’ll kill you.

Predator, not prey – I love it.